Cultural: May 1 - Labor Day - Tomorrow!
I am posting this a day early since I am doing my Mystery Quilt clues on Fridays!
This is a repost of a previous cultural post - as these types of holidays really don’t change.
The biggest difference this year is that it falls on a Friday during COVID-19.. May 3 is also a holiday and normally they go places and do things during this 3 day holiday as they usually take May 2 of they can. This year, however, for obvious reasons, is different.
Tomorrow is a holiday in Poland.
May 1 is Labor Day and is one of our official holidays.
Polish people mostly celebrate it with simply a day off from work - relaxing at home or at the "family home" somewhere outside the city center.
a photo from the communist era - photo - google images
I've asked several people in the last few days to tell me what it means to them. The ones I asked were all a bit older and they told me, "Now, nothing!". When they were young and in school, there were parades that everyone participated in.
After further reading, I saw that the parades were organized by the communist party and participation was mandatory. They carried flags and marched in order to show the world how great they were - but if you chose not to participate, you were punished - by lower pay, or not being allowed to take exams if you were a student (which meant you couldn't graduate), etc. Subtle punishment. Not.
There are a few parades still organized and going on in downtown Warsaw, for example. Mostly, however, not much is happening anywhere today. photo - google images
Since it falls on May 1, often the weather is beautiful and people have grills and outdoor activities. There don't appear to be many "typical" traditional activities for the day anymore - it is simply a free day. This type of holiday must be pretty nice for most Polish people since there aren't a lot of things that tradition says that they have to do. Truly a "break".
A typical parade. Photo from google images.
Everywhere, however, there are flags flying - and we'll leave ours up because we've got another political holiday in 2 days!
Here are some old political banners from the communist era: (all taken from google images)
And that's all for now from Poland!
Below are some beautiful florals my sis has for sale in her shop! Be sure to check her out if you have need of some fabric!
Just for Fun! A Give-Away -
10 days straight excluding Sunday
Day 2
Look down below the row of fabrics for the question for the GIVE AWAY!!!
Yes, we are going to be having a drawing every day for 10 days (excluding Sunday)…your chance to win one of these bags - a reusable Polish folk design shopping bag. If you win, YOUR responsibility is to contact me. I will put a list up on May 11 at which time the winners need to send me your address via email at customservice@quiltedtwins.com or PM me at Becky Tillman Petersen via Messenger.
Today’s question - you HAVE to answer in the comments below. If for some reason you can’t answer down there, send me an email to customerservice@quiltedtwins.com . There are a few people who don’t seem to have the comment box.
Please, put either your whole name or something distinctive - not just “Susan” or “Donna” or “Linda”. We seem to have a lot of people here with those first names. Thanks! If you don’t want to put your first and last name put your first name and two more letters.